SOUTHWEST HIGH PROGRAM MAKES ITS MARK

$1,000 grant helps teacher organize special art show

For a while, Laura Esquivel has talked with other teachers about putting together a show that would feature students’ work. At the end of the last school year, she did.

After receiving a $1,000 grant from the San Diego Foundation’s Teachers’ Fund to conduct a student research project in her advanced art class, she put all of her students’ pieces on display for the rest of the school to see.

“We put (the pieces) outside and had art all over and people were shocked,” she said. “They didn’t know what we did here, so it was a good chance to expose the rest of the school about what we do... I tell (my students) they’re doing a great job, but it’s great to hear it from other people and their peers.”

Esquivel teaches visual art at Southwest High School in Chula Vista, and when she applied for the grant she needed the resources for a project she wanted her students to complete on mythology. “Mythology: Creatures Across Culture” required the students to research myths throughout history and in various cultures, sculpt their own mythic creature, and write an accompanying and original myth. Some of the students really took to the idea, creating figures requiring wires and chains; one was nearly the size of a cow.

“The kids had to figure out the weight and how to have things stand and baking clay,” she said. “There were so many aspects and dimensions, and I needed the money because of all the materials involved.”

The 38 students in her advanced class spent at least three months working on their pieces. Esquivel wanted to push them artistically, past painting two-dimensional pictures and into an area where they may have lacked experience and been a bit uncomfortable. She also wanted to incorporate other subjects, such as history, literature, math, and science through the research and construction processes.

“I wanted to do something three-dimensional... have the kids expand their comfort zone, do something they’re not used to, get messy, take risks. Art is problem-solving,” she said.

Between gathering supplies and materials, guiding students through their research, helping them through the creative process, and organizing and setting up the display outside, Esquivel had a lot of work to do, but she hopes to put another show together this school year. This time, she’d like to include live music with the school’s music department and extend some hours after school so parents and families can see the students’ work.

Do you know of a school that should be in the spotlight? Contact Lisa Deaderick at (619) 293-2503, or lisa.deaderick@utsandiego.com